Despite Julie still feeling a little unwell, we had a really good night's sleep. It was a very comfortable mattress and quality pillows. The Banana Palms was rated 4 star which is higher than Intrepid's usual standard for their basic tours.

We were not sure until when breakfast was served so we decided to head down to the restaurant as soon as we had come around. We arrived just as the rest of the group were preparing to leave for their day trip to the Garifuna town of Livingston.

Some were surprised that we weren't joining them. I tried to explain without putting a dampner on their expectations that we didn't rate Livingston worthy of a revisit.     

After last night's attrocious pasta I was a little worried about breakfast but I really enjoyed my traditional chapin, especially the fried plantain. Julie's French Toast was a huge portion. She had to request back up to help clear her plate. Which I duly obliged.  

We returned to our room where we spent some time hand washing a few items of clothing. I watched from the comfort of my hammock as the group set off in their boat for their day trip.

I was glad we decided not to go. We had always planned today as our day of rest, an opportunity to do our own thing at our own pace. 

Even the idea of finding our way to Quirigua seemed like too much hard work. All our plan consisted for today was to simply walk to the Castillo de San Felipe, the fort we saw yesterday from the water.

It was about an hour later when we decided to leave the comfort of our room and head out to find the fort. It really wasn't far way.

In fact the greatest challenge was to find our way out of the Banana Palms!

 Once we found the main exit/entrance to the resort it was literally turn right then follow the road for a few minutes. We past several tin roofed shacks. Most were just ramshackled homes but there were a few shops, cafes and even some budget hotels along the way.  

When we reached a tourist market a suprised Julie went "Oh, are we already here?". It had taken only three or four minutes for us to reach the entrance to the park of the Castillo.  

Beyond the gates, at the ticket booth, we paid 75 quetzals each to enter. I had been here before and remembered that it was cash only. Luckily I had brought enough because the fee had gone up 50% since 2020.

From the gate the path lead us through a very colourful cemetery where most of the tombs were above ground and painted brightly. Adding to the vivid colours were fresh flowers and wreaths placed on them.

We stopped at a few and took our time to read some of the inscriptions. It seemed such an ancient cemetary so it came as a surprise to read one for a young man, who died age 34, in 2021.  We weren't expecting recent burials.

It almost took us another three or four minutes to reach the Castillo de San Felipe.

Coming from Wales, the land of a hundred castles, it would have taken quite something to impress me. But I have to admit it was an attractive looking fort.  

It was built on land that jutted into the Rio Dulce. I wouldn't exactly call it a headland nor a promontory but it extended out into the water.

A stone bridge spanned the man-made moat that seperated the fort from the mainland. The final two metres across was completed by a wooden drawbridge which could be lifted in the event of an attack.

Only after rummaging in all my numerous pockets to show we had paid for our entry ticket, were we allowed to sign the visitors book. We spent a minute checking who else had signed in today. There was a French couple and a large tour group from Spain. Everyone else appeared to be Guatemalan, from towns like Chiquimula, Guastatoya and Huehuetenango.

I wondered if the book went as far back as 2020. It would have been interesting to see when I last signed it. But I could find it. 

The entrance was narrow and not direct. As we shuffled around the corridors following three giggling young girls one of them stopped and said "Hi" then they giggled some more before moving on.

"She's a little over dressed" said Julie, once they were out of earshot. Wearing heels, a bright red dress and lipstick to match, she looked like she was on her way out to a fancy restaurant, not walking around an old castle. 

Thankfully they took their youthful exhuberence into the fort and we didn't bump into them again after that. 

The corridor turned a corner and came to the incredible inner courtyard. There was so much character in the buildings, from the masonary to the terracotta roof tiles. The entire fort had been wonderfully restored striking the balance between restoration and reconstruction. It wasn't too difficult to imagine scenes of swashbuckling taking place across its ramparts!

The 17th century was the era of plundering pirates and privateers. Castillo de San Felipe was built in 1644 to protect a major port situated on the Southern shores of Lake Izabal. Allowing access deep to the interior of Guatemala directly from the Atlantic Ocean was of great value. So this fort was most important to the Spanish.  

We climbed a stone staircase onto the rooftops and then I continued again up to a tower that had a great view over the entire fort.  

Despite having plenty of names in the visitors book, it wasn't over run with people. There were plenty of moments when we found ourselves on our own wandering around the many rooms.

Back down to the inner courtyard we popped inside the chapel. It looked like any of the other rooms but it did have three alcoves in which they had placed some images of saints.

The sign read Capilla Inguat. I wondered what inguat meant and only later discovered it had nothing to do with the chapel. It was simply the Guatemalan Tourist board. It was at the bottom of all the signs in the fort!

Across the courtyard was the kitchen and dining room. It seemed too small to feed a large garrison. I would imagine any more than a table for a dozen soldiers and it would feel very cramped in there. 

Next we climbed the steps up to the section overlooking the river. Although we had to wait a while as the entire Spanish tour group came down one by one. We must have been waiting there for several minutes. "So this was where were all hiding!"

Once we got up there we saw the canons pointing out over the river ready to sink any rogue ship that passed. Another tactic they used was to have a heavy iron chain spanning the river which they would lift to physically stop any boats from sailing through the gap.

Julie waited patiently for me by the cannons whilst I quickly climbed the watchtower for no other reason than it was there, and therefore needed climbing.

We had hardly spent 20 minutes inside the fort but with all the rooms, including the dark damp prison cell, visited, it was time to leave.

We returned to the impressive inner courtyard once again, taking a moment to soak it all in, before heading for the exit. It may have been a brief visit but we enjoyed it.

Before leaving we walked around the grounds where the locals were setting out their picnics and barbecues. They were here for the day, and what better was there to do on a Sunday?

There were a few odd things dotted around the park whose sole purpose seemed to be an opporunity to have your photograph taken with them, like an over sized chair, or a very large butterfly, as well as the name Castillo de San Felipe in 1 metre tall letters.  The Instagram effect I guess.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the cafe restaurant Casa Madera. They had gone to some effort to make it nice and welcoming, so we thought we would pop in for a drink.

We went upstairs and sat at a table overlooking the road. It was not much more than a wooden barn but it was brightly decorated and pleasnt enough.

I saw on their menu Pie de Queso which I quickly translated as a cheese pie. "Ooh" I said "I bet that'll be nice" imagining this warm freshly baked savoury pastry only for it to turn out to be a cheesecake! I couldn't hide my disappointment when it arrived.

It was nice enough except for the illumious green glacier cherry on top, which I left.  

I also ordered a drink which was also lost in translation. It turned out to be a jug full of flavoured crushed ice, like a slush puppy. It also had a bright green glacier cherry on top. It turned out to be quite refreshing and zesty with lime.

"Do you remember when you thought you were dying in KFC?" Julie recalled. The brain freeze was so powerful I thought I was having a brain hemorrhage!

Then we realised that the drink was made from ice, which probably would have been tap water. Not wanting to risk an upset stomach I decided to flush the rest of it down the toilet.

Although that was easier said than done because the toilet handle had broken. They had provided a bucket full of water to the side which I had to use to manually flush down my slush puppy. But the illuminus cherry kept floating back up!

It took several attempts to dispose of the evidence. 

The cafe also had a Fruit & Veg shop where we bought ourselves some bruised bananas before returning to the Banana Palms hotel.

Thankfully DJ Banana wasn't in the house today so we enjoyed an hour by the pool.  where we splashed about for a bit cooling ourselves down.  

Shortly after 1pm our stomachs decided it was time for lunch. Julie really enjoyed her chicken fillet sandwich despite it being served between toasted slices of bread.

Whereas I went for the Sopa de Tortilla. It was very tasty eventhough in all probability it was made with chicken stock. Unfortunately I have little choice but to accept these lapses from my vegetarianism.

As we tucked into lunch the agoutis were here again, keeping us company but today's prize for the most curious animal in the hotel grounds was a Common Basilisk, a fine looking lizard with a fabulous crest and an incredibly long tail. It was longer than its body!

It's sometimes also refered to as the "Jesus lizard" because it has been seen walking on water! Or at least they run along the surface.

After lunch we returned to our room for a siesta. We put the TV on and watched the animated Disney film "Coco",  based around the Mexican Day of the Dead.

I really enjoyed it, I even cried at the end! 

The rest of the afternoon was spent out on the balcony, Julie knitting and me swinging in the hammock.

After the sun set there was a flurry of messages on the What's App group as the group were arranging to head out to the town to eat at the Sundog Cafe, a Pizzeria run by a Swiss couple.

We thought we should join them but felt far too relaxed to leave the room let alone head out for the evening.

Eventually our hollow stomachs forced us down to the restaurant. Julie opted for the same as last night. I couldn't repeat my pasta trauma and was struggling to find anything else. Then Julie suggested a meze of their side dishes. Genius!

So I had rice 'n beans, guacamole, refried beans, queso fresco, pico de gallo, nachos, fried plantain. A veritable feast!

After a while Shaila, Evie and Kate came to the restaurant. They also had decided to stay. Apparently David and Kris hadn't gone either. (Kris was one third of the German three, although I think he may have been Swiss.)

We chatted.  Evie and Shaila were friends, both working in the pharmaceutical industry. Kate was a journalist and had worked with Formula One as TV presenter. Oddly enough I had this feeling that I had seen her, in the pits, microphone in hand.

Time flew and the rest of the group returned, all happy shiny people. Nicole announced she was celebrating her 50th birthday today. Franz and Jen, the final names on our roster, announced they had drunk the local bar dry!  They looked like they had a very fun evening and I slightly wished we had made the effort.

Andrew showed us a sketch from Saturday Night Live, an American sketch show, where the presenters were lampooning Arnold Schwazeneger. It's a famous sketch called Hanz & Franz and they just kept on repeating "Pump it up" for some reason.

Nicole and Andrew were finding it so funny!  But the humour was completely lost on us.

I'm not too sure what Hanz & Jen thought about it.  They didn't seem to be offended. 

Anyway, it was time to call it a night.